The Theta Special

Many people outside of Oklahoma consider the El Reno fried onion burger to be the state’s official burger. But Oklahoma is home to a few iconic specialties (I’m thinking of the Seismic Burger from Meers Store and the Caesar Burger from the defunct Split-T in Oklahoma City, among others). And then there is the pride of Central Oklahoma, the eighty-five-year-old Theta burger.

The beloved burger was invented by Ralph Geist in 1937 at his bar Town Tavern, in Norman, Oklahoma. The bar was very close to the Oklahoma University campus, and apparently Ralph had grown tired of fielding the myriad late-night requests from the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority. Together, the girls and Ralph designed the now iconic burger and named it the Theta Special. Town Tavern is long gone, but the Theta can still be found at burger joints throughout the state. Johnnie’s in Oklahoma City today makes one of the finest examples.